THE CRUNCH
A leaked draft of the EU Kids Act would require age verification for online services including social media, generative AI and video games. The proposal, reported by Euractiv, aims to protect children from addictive design, deepfakes and excessive screen time by restricting access and enforcing strict parental controls. The legislation is not yet passed and may change before the European Commission reviews it.
The draft law would set a minimum age for social media, with children aged 0-3 completely barred from access. For ages 3-13, accounts would be fully parent-controlled, while those aged 13-15 would get 'introductory accounts' limited in peer contacts and screen time. Only users aged 15-18 would be allowed fully autonomous accounts.
Online games would face obligatory age recommendations enforced through age verification at the software application store. The act also mandates 'Safe Design' principles, such as removing addictive features and regulating recommendation algorithms to prevent 'doom-scrolling'.
Age verification would be required for all new social media accounts and must use privacy-preserving tools approved by public authorities. The law would also require social media companies to pay a supervisory fee to fund EU-wide enforcement.
The proposal cites data showing children who started using social media before age 10 report 7.5 hours of weekend screen time, compared to 5.7 hours for those who started after 14. It also highlights risks from generative AI, including deepfakes and dangerous advice from chatbots.